Analysis of Richard Cory

Analysis of Richard CoryIn the ironic poem, “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson, the author conveys a simple profound message that someone else’s life may not be an ideal existence. Richard Cory’s wealth, distinction and admiration from the ‘people on the pavement’ demonstrated that in their eyes he was the American dream. He was respected, well admired, envied and they wished they could trade lives with him. “Richard Cory” is a dramatic poem, written in four stanzas of regular alternating rhyme scheme. The speaker is a town person or a member of the lower class community. The speaker describes the town’s people view of a high class upstanding citizen. The speaker in the poem assumes Richard Cory is everything anyone could want to be since Cory possesses, materialistically, all that can make one happy. The speaker takes for granted the idea that the grass is greener on the other side; that money brings happiness; and his words “And he was rich-yes, richer than a king”/In fine we thought that he was everything to make us wish that we were in his place” shows no insight that it might bring emptiness rather than happiness ultimately revealing that wealth does not always bring the serenity that one desires but it creates the illusion of contentment. It is strange how someone who supposedly has everything money can buy, so easily resorts to suicide? While the poor working lower class that are telling the story continue to live on and deal with all their hardships as stated in these lines “So on we worked and waited for the light and went without meat and cursed the bread”, they can’t even buy meat but unlike them, Richard Cory gives up on hope. Perhaps he suffered from loneliness since the speaker makes no mention of friends or family. The emphasis is placed on his appearance and material success. The last line of this poem reveals its ironic truth, that the happiest façade masks an unhappy, lonely and incomplete individual who “one calm summer...

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...In the poem, RichardCory is believed to be superior in contrast to the working people. The poem states, “Whenever RichardCory went down town, we people on the pavement looked at him” (754). The working people had very little money and work consistently to survive, “So on we worked, and waited for the light, and went without the meat, and cursed the bread” (755). The people admired RichardCory and wished to one day have the same wealth as RichardCory, “And he was rich—yes, richer than a king” (755). RichardCory is well-presented, and the people described RichardCory appearance as “Cleaned favored, an imperially slim” (754). In the poem, the people also described RichardCory as a “gentleman from sole to crown” (754) and “And admirably schooled in every grace” (755). RichardCory symbolized everything a working man strived to accomplish, “To make us wish that we were in his place” (755). In the poem, the people represent the lower working-class and RichardCory represents the higher level of society. The people hope to one day become like RichardCory through hard work and determination. In the poem, clearly the people think RichardCory has the perfect life and have...

...The upper echelon of society
The Song “RichardCory” by Paul Simon and the poem “RichardCory” by Edwin Robinson share the same theme, that RichardCory the character is distant from the lower echelon of society due to his status and wealth. It also shows the theme that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. The points I will make throughout will be how the song focuses on the miscreant behavior and how the poem talks about idealizing his image. The biggest difference is the view the upper class in the poem holds him in reverence and the song curses him, but both the song and the poem wish for the life he had.
In Simon’s song RichardCory is the brightest star out there, he has everything “power, grace, and style (Simon, 4).” Everybody wanted to be RichardCory, although in both the poem and the song they only saw the public view of RichardCory not his inner self. In the poem they saw him as a king or gentleman, “He was a gentleman from sole to crown (Robinson, 3).” The question the song raises in response to the poem is why RichardCory, a man who has everything, would take his own life. In the song, Even after RichardCory takes his life the townspeople still want to be him.
The poem shows four quatrains, each stanza represents a specific...

...“RichardCory”
Poetry has been a constant form of art for centuries and has allowed poets to truly express their deepest desires or feelings. The poem “RichardCory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson, written in 1897 (Bildir) uses simplicity, irony, and a melodic rhyme scheme that sounds similar to a song. The main theme throughout the poem is that people are not always who they appear to be. Moreover, the people that seem to have it all may still be emotionally unstable and appearances are deceiving. This particular poem is written in just sixteen stanzas in which it describes a man named RichardCory, who happens to be very wealthy. He is envied and admired by the individuals of the town who are less fortunate and on a lower class level than himself. In the end of the poem, RichardCory commits suicide by putting a bullet through his head. The most interesting part of the whole poem is the reasoning beside his suicide. Why would a man take his life when he had everything anyone would ever desire? The people of the town maintained their prejudices and admirations towards Richard, which were far from reality and by doing this; Richard was put on a petastool, which in return pushed him to commit suicide.
RichardCory is known to us only by “We people on the pavement” (Bildir) meaning we only see his exterior...

...reverence and the song curses him, but both the song and the poem wish for what he had.
The poem RichardCory by Edward Arlington Robinson and the Paul Simon song of the same name share many attributes. The theme is the same: in both the song and the poem, the title character is somewhat aloof and distant from the rest of society due to his wealth and position. I think Paul Simon was interested in the mystery: the question of exactly why he might kill himself given that he appears to be living a charmed life.
In the poem, the first two stanzas focus on RichardCory but not so much on how he is perceived. The description of him is almost factual, e.g. “he was a gentleman from sole to crown, clean-favoured and imperially slim.” Even though there’s a positive perception of him, the author doesn’t bring up the issues of envy or jealousy until the end of the third stanza “we thought that he was everything / To make us wish that we were in his place. “ However, in contrast, the Paul Simon song introduces the idea of envy earlier. He brings in a first person singular narrator who is envies Cory’s position. The contrast between the two is even greater because the narrator works in his factory. He also emphasizes the poverty of the factory workers earlier. In the Arlington poem, that’s given in just one line (“went without the meat and cursed the bread”).
In the Paul Simon Song, Cory is larger-than-life....

...Throughout life many people may hear the saying money can't buy happiness over and over again but very few take that into consideration. In the poem “RichardCory,” the poet Edwin Arlington Robinson reminds his readers of this overused phrase by implying it at the end of the poem. The poem is about a man who lives in a neighborhood that envies his wealth and perfect lifestyle. In the end the protagonist commits suicide leaving the town in shock and awe. The poet uses situational irony and symbolism to reach out to its readers in a different perspective to get the message across.
Life tends to throw little unexpected surprises that contradict what many people originally predict. The poet uses situational irony to show what appears to be true and what actually exists in the poem RichardCory. The townspeople assume RichardCory has the perfect lifestyle, “richer than a king,” and nothing to worry about while they “went without meat, and cursed the bread.” Little did the townspeople know that RichardCory was not what they assumed. “On a calm summer night, / [RichardCory] went home and put a bullet through his head.”
The poet did not mention the townspeople's reactions. By ending the poem so abruptly, the poet reached his point across in a shocking and mind whirling way. This is situational irony because the poet misleads the reader...

...The narrator in "RichardCory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson is a low class working citizen telling the reader, in detail, about a distinguished gentleman named RichardCory who eventually "put a bullet through his head." Almost everyone, including the narrator, would stare at him with awe every time they saw him. He was "imperially slim"(4), always charismatic and well-dressed. He was extremely courteous and polite. He would please everyone's heart with a simple "Good Morning." Then the narrator soon explains that on "one calm summer night" he executes himself by putting a gun to his head. When I first read the poem, I thought it told the story of a young man and his riches. After about my third or fourth reading, I realized this poem is revealing that no matter how suicidal one gets, he or she should know that his or her life is not at its worse.
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<br>The first two lines of the poem are "Whenever RichardCory went down town,/We people on the pavement looked at him." After only reading those two lines and not knowing what the poem was about, I thought RichardCory must be someone very special. When finishing the first stanza, I thought to myself, "Who is this man and why are they so star-strucked by him?" After reading it again, I found that maybe the "people on the pavement" worked for a low salary and rarely saw anybody that looked, dressed, and conducted...

..."RichardCory" describes how one man is not as perfect as his townspeople think. The poem “RichardCory” was written in 1897 by Edwin Arlington Robinson. It is about a gentleman by the name of RichardCory; a man everybody admired. The townspeople look at him as if he had it all. They see his money, feel his power, know his intelligence, and not one time do they ever doubt his happiness, yet RichardCory “puts a bullet through his head”. In 1966 the musicians Simon and Garfunkel wrote the song “RichardCory” which is based on the poem “RichardCory”. In the song, the narrator works in a factory owned by RichardCory. The narrator wants to be RichardCory despite the fact that his “idol” kills himself. The meaning of the poem and the song is pretty clear, although the poem and the song are slightly different. The narrator of the poem seems to be blindly admiring RichardCory than the narrator of the song, who seems to be expressing more envy and anger towards him.
The poem “RichardCory” demonstrates quite clearly that money cannot buy happiness. The speaker describes RichardCory as “a gentleman from sole to crown, clean favored, and imperially slim”. This...

...Running Head: RichardCoryRichardCory
3/1/2013
RichardCory, a poem written by Edward Arlington Robinson describes a man who is rich, educated, famous within the town, outgoing and friendly but ultimately he turns out to be a sad person who kills himself. The poem, RichardCory despite its simplicity is very emotionally powerful. Irony, simplicity, and perfect rhyme depict the theme of the poem. The old adage “don’t judge a book by its cover.” rings true after reading this poem for sure. RichardCory represents all the traits of a man who appears to have everything which demands admiration. We the readers come to realize that we never really knew RichardCory at all. Therefore, don’t judge by appearance; you can think one thing about a person based off what they show you on the surface, but never really understand what’s going on inside their head. This poem left me confused which is the same emotion I felt when I learned about a friend who died the same way. I envied this friend because she seemed to also have everything. She was married to a great guy, had two beautiful young daughters, a beautiful home, money, and she was absolutely beautiful. On the outside she seemed to want for nothing. One day I received a phone call at work that my friend committed suicide. Angie, like Cory...